Friday the 13th sees me at the Wood Dale Public Library in Illinois:​Friday, 13 May 2016, 7:00-8:00 p.m.Wood Dale Public Library, 520 N Wood Dale Rd, Wood Dale, ILFrom the Shadow of JFK: The Rise of Beatlemania in AmericaMany Beatles authors and scholars have cited John F. Kennedy's assassination on 22 November 1963 as a cause of the Beatles' sudden popularity in the United States in early 1964. Their logic: Kennedy's assassination made America sad, then the Beatles made America happy again. But this commonly accepted answer is overly simplistic. America has suffered numerous tragedies and rebounded each time, but the popularity and staying power of the Beatles remains unmatched in American history. The real answer is that Kennedy's life and death inadvertently primed the nation for the Beatles' arrival and success. This 60-minute program will explain how and why.